It’s a tragic story that’s steeped in mystery and whispers of foul play. The incident happened 165 years ago, but the echos of the Lost Children of the Alleghenies still linger.
On April 24, 1856 George and Jacob Cox went missing. The children, ages 7 and 5, were the sons of Samuel and Susannah Cox. The boys had apparently gotten lost when they attempted to follow their father into the woods.
Jacob Dibert’s Dream
More than 4,000 people searched the area near the boys’ home in Pavia, Pennsylvania. The searchers called for the boys, but 10 days passed with no sight of them. It was then that Jacob Dibert had his dream. In the dream, he dreamed he was looking for the boys and encountered some specific scenes. These scenes included a dead deer, a shoe, a large stream with a beech log across it, a ravine, and ending with a birch tree.
Initially, Diebert told no one but his wife. After having the dream two additional nights, Diebert also confided in his brother-in-law, Harrison Whysong. Diebert lived about 10 miles from where the Cox children disappeared so he didn’t recognize the scenes in the dream — but Whysong did.
Despite recognizing the area, Whysong didn’t think the children could have made it that far — nor could they have crossed Bob’s Creek which was quite high that spring.
Undeterred, Fiebert convinced Whysong to search and after they set out they began finding everything just as Diebert had seen it in the dream. When the men came to the birch tree, they braced themselves for what they knew they would find. There, in the roots of the tree, were the bodies of the two boys.
Searchers hadn’t searched the area on the east side of the stream because no one supposed (as Wysong also assumed) that they boys could have crossed the stream without drowning. This eventually fueled speculation of foul play with suspicion falling on the parents, although how exactly the boys went missing remains a mystery to this day.
In 1906, to mark the 50th anniversary of the boy’s mysterious death, the community began raising money for the Lost Children of the Alleghenies monument. In 1910, the funds had been raised and the monument was erected at the site where the boy’s bodies were found.
In present day, the monument has been enclosed with fencing in order to prevent vandalism. Visitors often bring items such as toys and stuffed animals to leave at the site.
How to Get to the Lost Children of the Alleghenies Monument
The road to the Lost Children of the Alleghenies Monument is mostly dirt and gravel, and don’t expect cell service. You can reach it from Route 869 and following Monument Road for almost two miles through state park forest.
You will come to a parking lot and from the lot it is a short walk back through the woods to reach the monument.
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I think the two men killed these two kids.
That’s my assumption as well, or that Dibert may have been the one to do it. Too many red flags being waved for me. Dibert living ten miles from where the boys went missing? Okay, that’s a bit of a weird coincidence. Having such a weirdly specific dream of where to find the bodies THREE nights in a row?? Starting to get suspicious. Going out and following the “markers” of the dream EXACTLY, let alone said “markers” like the dead deer actually being there?? Okay, something is definitely up with this dude! Especially when he insists that the bodies would be found on the other side of the creek, even though members of the search party and his own brother-in-law rightly surmised that there would’ve been no way for the children to cross safely as the water was too high that spring, and there they are?? Sure, they could’ve gotten lost and died of starvation and exposure, and wild animals absolutely could’ve eaten the remains and moved the bones because that’s just what happens with nature. They could’ve even drowned with their bodies washing up in the location they did, and from there, wild animals could’ve come along and consumed the bodies and left the remains– both scenarios make total sense because it’s logic. HOWEVER… the biggest sticking point for me is that this random dude had such a specific dream of EXACTLY where they could find the boys bodies, not once, but THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW!!! Not only that, but the fact that Dibert and his BIL (brother-in-law) were able to follow the “markers” from the dream, because they actually existed in real life, AND ACTUALLY FOUND THE BODIES EXACTLY WHERE THEY WOULD BE ACCORDING TO THE DREAM??? Noooooooooo! At THAT POINT, I would’ve been asking how Dibert’s reccurring dream was so specific that he not only knew EXACTLY where the bodies would be (as in the location), but that he knew FOR CERTAIN that the bodies would actually be there!
Unfortunately, the disappearance of the children occurred 168 years ago (in fact, 2026 will mark the 170th anniversary of the disappearance)… It would be incredibly difficult to gather new evidence now, and even with the technology we have today, it would be very time consuming trying to gather DNA from 170 year old corpses (the children’s and Dibert’s) and go through the process of matching and finding anything that could *maybe* suggest that Dibert was involved in the disappearance or their death. We have just as much of a chance of a descendant of Dibert coming forward brandishing a journal with an entry from Dibert confessing to murdering the children at this point.
Even if we did solve the mystery, would it really matter? Again, it’s been 170 years. Anyone involved is long gone at this point. It won’t bring the brothers back, the possible criminal will not be punished, and the parents will not receive closer. Sure, *maybe* descendants of the boys’ family will receive closer, but who’s to say that they care, let alone interested in solving the mystery? All we can do is wonder.